Have you joined Kidvantage?

We joined Kidvantage at Sears awhile ago, but today was the first day I actually used it.

It's free to join, and if you wear out any kid clothes or shoes, you can get a new one of the same size for free. I've even heard of someone bringing in a bag of socks, and they've replaced them. This might work well if we work the system, because when one is too big, the next one is the right size.

When we joined they told us they could look up old purchases by our phone number if you lose your receipt. (Which of course I did). Today she told me that they usually need receipts for the non-Sears brands. It takes a little organization but it worked for me. And if you watch for sales you can usually get things cheaper than Wal-mart or Payless anyway. Today I got C a pair for Levi's for $9.99 and shoes for $15.

Now if ony it worked for shoes that were lost. C somehow managed to lose one of each of both of his current shoes. Don't ask me how. He has been wearing mismatched shoes, boots, and Sunday shoes for quite awhile now. I'm sure we'll find them soon now that we got a new pair. He has to pay us $2 for these. Dad told him next time it would be $15.

B's old shoes:And his new ones:

Welcome to grilling season!

So, what does a Idaho family do when it is 46 degrees outside? Grill hamburgers of course!

Happy Spring.

Need a different Easter treat besides sugar cookies?

So, I copied Krista's idea (again) and this is what we made yesterday. The ingredients may sound a little odd, but they were actually really tasty and easy to make. We are making them for part of den meeting this week.

Edible Easter Nests

1 -11 oz bag butterscotch chips (I measured bulk chips in my glass measuring up)

1 - tbsp butter

3/4 c - chunky peanut butter (I used creamy)

3 c - marshmallow creme (about 1 1/2 containers)

1 - 12 oz package chinese noodles (I used a 9 oz. bag)

coconut

green food coloring

jelly beans

*Melt and mix first 4 ingredients. Stir the noodles in. Lightly grease muffin tins and drop spoonfuls of mixture into the cups. Form cups like nests with your fingers. When they have cooled, fill with green coconut. Garnish with jelly beans and other Easter candy.

Can't find Little Inpsirations?

I know some of you read the Little Inspirations blog that I have in my blog list. I made a new blog list her blog and for other creative people (love them or hate them!).

Scroll two miles down my blog list to find this list. When you think you've gone too far, keep going.

I bought size 6 diapers.....

Potty training. Is there anything on this beautiful earth that is worse? Ok, so I started thinking that C still wears diapers at night and T still wears diapers full time. I'm not going to have three kids in diapers! I refuse.

So, I started with T a little before his 3rd Birthday. He would produce when I took him every hour. He would still have accidents but he wasn't afraid to do either job in the potty. Well, two months later if I don't take him every hour (which he hates) or if he happens to need to go in between the hours, he just goes. Am I getting anywhere? Will I still be taking him every hour when he's in high school? Is he getting trained or am I getting trained?

He hasn't once recognized that he needs to go beforehand. I know I've done this twice before, but they both pretty much got it around the age of 3. T has no indication that he will be getting in anytime soon. But, I also think we were given T to learn something. Probably patience. He slept through the night later, he talked later, he just generally requires more love and patience. I also swore that after being the first girl in my family to not be a valedictorian, that I wouldn't compare me children to each other either.

You really wish people would tell you that you should never say what your kids will be like before you start having them. My SIL had a big issue with snotty noses, and then had a daughter with adenoid problems. Unless she wanted to wipe until her nose bled, she had to learn to live with a little snot.

I thought people who had kids approaching 4 and weren't potty trained weren't even trying. Now I might be one of them. I used to think that you could make goals for your kids, but the problem is that they have to participate in reaching those goals. What if they don't care?

When you are three, you can start going to preschool, swimming lessons, tumbling etc. But not if you still crap your pants on a regular basis. Should I give up? Swallow my pride? Do you have any amazing potty training tips that works that helps them recogonize or care that they need to go? What about bed wetting? I started a chart yesterday where if he stays dry 30 out of 40 nights, I would buy him the bat cave. He woke up wet.

I told myself that I would never reach the time when I needed to buy size 6's. C has been squeezing into 5's at night for years. But the time has come that I bought size 6. Thanks for letting me vent.

Your hair is the color of tomato soup!

Ever since a few years when I told Tristan I was pregnant a few years ago (and then a month later, the joke was on me-Surprise!) I've kept April fools day pretty low key. This year my Family Fun happen to come on the last day of March and I had two hours to read it while the kids played at Blast Off.

They had a lot of really cute ideas. The first thing I did was put food coloring in the bottom on their cereal bowls, then when they added milk=Ta-da. Coloful milk!
Here is B-semi-amused. C-who hates being laughed at in any way, said, "I hate this day!" when he discovered his colored milk. It's really hard to have a kid who is ultra-sensitive in this way. Especially when he says funny things!They thought it was much more fun to make a tricky dinner for daddy. Here is his dinner of "fish sticks, ketchup, and peas." The fish sticks were sugar wafers covered with Peanut Butter, then dipped in crushed cereal. These were actually really tasty. The peas are Airheads, and the ketchup was jam. And of course, who doesn't want a worm sticking out of their apple.

When you opened the chips, you actually got carrots! Ha Ha

And of course, the orange juice was jell-0. Hope you had a great April Fools Day. I know I did because April is the best month of the year. (At least the second half!)

Did you buy a bunch of Progresso soups?

So, if you bought a bunch of Progresso soups on an Albertsons deal a few weeks ago, I discovered a way to use them. Of course, with if you are like me with couponing, sometimes the selection isn't the greatest by the time I get to the sale, but it's still such a good deal that I can't pass it up.

Hence, the "Flaming" Cheetos that I got for 29 cents that no one will eat. Anyone in need ?

This was the case with the Progresso Chicken Corn Chowder. Not the yummiest on its own, but would still taste good if you were starving. Anyway, I have a lot of Chicken Corn Chowders.

Last night for dinner I went to make "Cowboy Spuds" (basically browned hamburger in cream of chicken soup, on top of baked potatoes, loaded with other toppings) as my mom used to call them for dinner. But, alas I discovered that I was out of cream of chicken soup. Instead of reaching for the frozen pizza or heading to Arby's, I decided to see what I could do with this soup as a subsitute for cream of chicken.

First, I browned a combination of ground hamburger and turkey (that is the only way my husband will eat turkey). Browned sausage would probably work well too. Then I whipped up some cream cheese with my hand-mixer and added the soup to this and heated through. Then I added the cooked meat. (If you are vegatable puree hider, this is great place to add pureed cauiflower)

Put this sauce on top of baked potatoes, and add your favorite toppings (cheese, bacon bits, butter, etc.) All of my kids ate this up and I was so happy to find a way to use these soups. I think this would work well with any cream-based soups. It might also work for a stroganoff substitute on noodles or pasta.

I know-it's not a "pretty" food but it tasted good. All of my kids ate it up.